A Way Forward

Wed 22 May 2013

This week, as part of our collaboration with National Centre for Early Music (NCEM), we’ve been working with students from Years 7 and 8 from Beverly Grammar School, as well as York University MEG students, recreating Purcell’s Fairy Queen.

A Northern Treat!

Tue 21 May 2013

Education Director Cherry Forbes is currently up in Beverley, working on an exciting project based on Purcell’s Fairy Queen. Here, Cherry tells us about the first day of the project; the quirks of staying in this beautiful historic town and what to expect from the rest of the week.

Secret Wishes

Tue 9 Oct 2012

After our mammoth Anthem for a Child project last season I spent the summer:

a. Recovering and b. Looking to the future

The questions I’m always asking of the OAE, our partners and the people we work with are Why? Where? What? and When?

In developing our plans for 2012-2013, I’ve been meeting with our partners and our players over the last six months to look at where we go next and how we can develop our work and build on our successes.

We’ve come up with a year of ‘Secret Wishes’ including:

new projects to try like our forthcoming project with CM and the Whitechapel Art Gallery new ensembles across the capital with our Mayor’s partnership in four boroughs in London new projects building on the success of Anthem like our Genius of Mozart project in Chesterfield this Autumn and the extension of our York work with a creative Fairy Queen opera project in the Beverley Early Music Festival in 2013 and a return to Plymouth Music Zone to work with disabled adults new partnerships like our forthcoming project with REMIX and Club Inegale new participants being able to access the tried and tested programmes of work like our OAE clubs, opera projects and schools concerts

Do look at our brochure on the Education page and our What’s On section to find out more and hope to see you at one of our events soon!

Cherry Forbes

Education Director

A 21st Century rehearsal…

Wed 28 Mar 2012

One of the bigger problems musicians face is finding slots of time when we are all free to rehearse for chamber concerts and so on.

So, when Cherry Forbes, OAE Education Director, asked Double Bassist Cecelia and me to put together a programme of music for an education project in Plumstead, Cecelia had a brainwave – we would see if the 21st century had the answer to this old problem.

What you can get in a Zafira if you really try….

Wed 7 Mar 2012

It was the day after our wonderful series of Berlioz Romeo and Juliet concerts had finished. Our final, and very successful concert, had been in Paris, involving a day trip there and back on the Eurostar. We even had time for lunch, though probably at a faster speed than the French would approve of.

Highpoints to Torpoint!

Tue 17 Jan 2012

It’s now the middle of January and a team of us from the OAE have already worked with 16 primary schools from Plymouth to London on our Anthem for a Child project.

Top quotes so far include: ‘That was fantastic, I love singing, I sing everyday!’Pupil from High Street Primary

‘What an amazing day! We had no idea that Year 2 children would be capable of learning so much in such a short time. It’s covered so many objectives and made the children and staff so enthusiastic about this great project – Thank you!’Teacher from Torpoint Primary.

And talking of highpoints – travelling on the ferry to a school was a treat for Hetty and I. Listening to the Torpoint Ferry Song on YouTube on the way back sung by children from the school was an even bigger treat – check it out here. Every hit gets the school a bit of money so the more hits the better!

A thousand twangling instruments…the first Anthem workshops

Mon 9 Jan 2012

Not wanting to waste any time in OAE Education, we have already had the first sessions of the year with Anthem workshops in Plymouth and London this week. For the first few months of 2012 OAE players will go into schools and start to teach the Anthem songs ‘Twangling Instruments’ and ‘My Cry’. OAE Education Director, Cherry Forbes, gives us her on the road diary on Thursday 5 January, from the first of many Anthem workshops:

After a drive of 470 miles from Suffolk to Cornwall Hetty and I had a fantastic session with our first group of primary schools yesterday. Eager eyed after the holidays and bright in their red tartan uniform around 50 children worked on James’ fanfare and his fabulous song My Cry. An in depth discussion about rosin led to the quote of the day from Hetty “my violin has loads of germs on it but I don’t worry about them!”

A Year 6 pupil commented after the workshop: ” That was fantastic! I love singing, I sing everyday!”

This was a wonderful way to start the term and I am delighted that our Anthem project has now really started – our specially commissioned music is being taught to the pupils, preparing them for their concert later in the year. Today Hetty and I are going to two other schools in Plymouth while Cecelia and Claire kick off the London workshops – good luck to all!

November 2011 podcast now out…

Wed 16 Nov 2011

Here’s our brand-new podcast for November. As ever, it’s a packed edition. First off we speak to regular OAE collaborator, violinist Rachel Podger, about her upcoming project with us – 1700s London and the Fab Four, a concert featuring music from Haydn, Abel, Arne and JC Bach that you can hear in both London and Bradford-on-Avon. Then we catch up with Education Director Cherry Forbes backstage at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, where we find out more about her role and what the OAE Education team gets up to. Next up is OAE Co-Principal Keyboard player Steven Devine who tells us about his favourite recordings, including a VERY unusual version of Handel’s Messiah (hear a more conventional one from us on 6 Dec at the Royal Festival Hall!). Lastlywe take a look back to September, when Robert Levin joined us to perform Mozart’s Piano Concerto No.23 – in a special interview he tells us about the piece and his approach to it. Happy listening!

The Story of Mr John…

Thu 30 Jun 2011

Next Tuesday 5 July, we’ll be coming straight from Glyndebourne’s Opera House to the Corn Exchange in King’s Lynn to perform in an hour-long family concert, playing highlights from one of Mozart’s most famous pieces, Don Giovanni. OAE musicians will be joined by over 150 children from local schools who’ll be performing live on stage.

We caught up with OAE Education Director Cherry Forbes and composer James Redwood, who’ll both be presenting the concert, to ask them what the audience can expect to see, including a dastardly villain and maybe even a few ghosts!

Tickets are just £5 for adults and £2 for children and can be booked through the King’s Lynn Corn Exchange on 01553 764864 or online here.

For more information on this concert and our other Education projects, why not have a look at our website here?

Mozart and guitars

Thu 27 Jan 2011

Hi everyone. This is my very first spangly blog I’ve written all on my own. I’ve been included on a few but never attempted to write more than 50 words so here goes…

My role in the office is Education Projects Manager which means I help run our ever expanding education programme here at the OAE, along with Cherry Forbes (Education Director). Our programme includes loads of creative, instrumental, opera and other various projects designed for tots right through to residents in nursing homes, so the list could go on and on. I wanted to take a few minutes from my day to tell you about a special project we have coming up for GCSE and A-Level students. Maybe then I’ll get a taste for this blogging thing and tell you about everything! You can have that to look forward to….

Mozart is our inspiration in the education department during 2010-11 and in particular we’re looking at his 40th symphony for our school concerts this spring (incidentally you can contact me to enquire about primary school spaces for our school concerts), a music and maths composition project next term and last but not least, our secondary school GCSE and A-Level study day with the OAE on 4 February at Kings Place.

It’s really exciting putting on an event like this where it fits nicely into the music curriculum and you feel it could really benefit everyone, from the students and the school teachers right through to the examiners. All music students have to study Mozart as part of their music syllabus so why not make it more fun and informative for them by chucking them a full live orchestra?

The June Podcast

Tue 22 Jun 2010

Our June OAE podcast is now here, and is, if we say so ourselves a rather good listen. In it, we take a trip to Glyndebourne, catch up with OAE Education Director Cherry to talk about our fantastic Creation project and related Family Concert, chat with Eduardo Portal, the current Melgaard OAE Young Conductor and finally we talk to Eric Richmond (photographer) and Chris Harrison (designer) who are behind our much-talked-about gaffer tape pics.

Business club launched!

Mon 2 Nov 2009

September marked the successful launch event of the OAE King’s Cross Business Club. Our launch event around our Bite Size Baroque concert was followed by a lively talk by Education Manager, Cherry Forbes. The event proved so popular we needed to open up a second concert and reception to avoid turning people away!

The club recognises that we are now a key member of King’s Cross ever-changing community. We are providing an opportunity for businesses to meet, exchange ideas and, of course, enjoy some lovely music together. While we are relatively new to Kings Place, Cherry has been working in local schools here for many years and she is now a well known force in the area. Recently, Cherry started a series of schools concerts, with the support of King Place. This means that 2500 children participate alongside the OAE in performance at Kings Place each year – most of these children would never normally experience live classical music or be able to take their musical abilities to the next level.

The Business Club has three tiers: £5000 Enlightened, £2000 Wise, and £500 Clued up. We are delighted to welcome Green and Fortune and Parabola Land as Founder members. Sign up now!!!!

St Matthew Passion: Bristol

Thu 2 Apr 2009

Monday was the first concert in our long St Matthew Passion tour around Europe in time for Easter, which saw the OAE journey to the west of England to St George’s Bristol. As I’m sure the St Matthew Passion is going to gain plenty of coverage in the blog in the next few weeks or so, I’d like to blog about the pre-concert event. The title of the event was ‘The OAE’s look at the development of the Passion’ and we decided to do something a little bit different by combining a film showing of an Education project that had taken place in Bristol earlier in the Spring, with an insightful introduction from Mark Padmore about how he with the OAE has approached the performance of the Passion this time round, and the challenges of being without a conductor.